Grouch
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Paul doesn't enjoy things he doesn't understand. Especially apps. And double especially when Steph is exploiting that fact just to get under his skin even more. - One-shot.


"I think the app will be fun."

Grunt.

"I mean, live streaming is loads of fun. Don't you think?"

Grunt.

"It's just a way to keep up with our fans, babe."

"Steph, I get it. You don't have to explain it to me like I'm a child."

"You just seem rather peeved about something."

"I can't be pissed off sometimes?"

"You can." His shoulder got a slight rub as they sat in the backseat of the car, their driver taking them back to their hotel. "I just wanted to know what it was all about."

But Paul was glaring down at his phone once more and Steph left it at that for a bit.

It had all started after they finished up with Paramount for the day and were heading out. Stephanie thought it would be a good time to take a glance at the Meerkat app and suggested it to her husband, who, for some reason, didn't find it nearly as entertaining as she did.

He wasn't too good at feigning enjoyment either. She thought the app was cute, however, and would be a good way to keep up appearances for the fans. Which it would be.

For her, apparently.

Since he wanted to be such a sourpuss.

And all over just not being able to turn off a stupid app…

It was a silent ride back to the hotel. The only time they spoke was once they were back up in their room, as she began to relax and he went over to the desk in the corner.

"I'm gonna work on some stuff, alright?" he grumbled over to her, still put out a bit, it seemed, as he booted up the laptop that rested there. Steph only went to stretch out on the couch in the room and mumbled out something of agreement.

To the sound of his typing and slight mumbles to himself at times, Stephanie drifted off. She awoke not soon after, however, to the sounds of her husband talking and pacing, taking care of something or other to do with the company, it sounded like.

She laid still, trying to decide in her mind if she should let on just yet that she was up or not. When she heard him mention her name, however, to whoever it was and start to tell them that she wasn't available, she sat up.

"I'm awake," she said through a yawn as she blinked sleepily over at where her husband had finished his pacing, in front of the window. "Paul."

Glancing over at his shoulder at her, he still held the phone up to his ear as he said, "Oh, wait, Vince, she's-"

"Never mind!" Steph held up her hands as her husband came over to hand over the phone. "I- Paul."

"It's your father," he said as he only shoved the cell at her.

"Yeah, I figured," was the soft grumble she got before speaking into the phone for herself. Paul only stood there for a moment, watching as she walked off into the bathroom, to have the call in peace, it seemed.

As if he wanted to talk to the man anymore than need be.

Going back over to his laptop, the man sat down in the rather tiny desk chair before staring just as blankly at the email before him as he had been for the past ten minutes before Vince called. It was something of rather importance, but every time he started to skim it, his eyes would get heavy and he'd about drift…

"Paul?"

"Mmmm. What?" His head jerked back suddenly and he found himself still at the desk, though his cellphone sat before him then and Steph, who'd no doubt set it there, was standing next to him, a hand resting on the back of his neck.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He held still as she leaned down to press a kiss to the top of his head before tilting it back to stare up at her. "Just have a headache, is all."

"Awe." That got him another kiss as well as her moving to stand behind him and begin to dig her hands into his shoulder blades. Relaxing into her touch, he only listened as she said, "You know that we don't have anything else to do until tomorrow morning. Early. So if you want to catch some sleep right now-"

"I have to finish what I'm doin'."

"You can't stay awake for what you're doing."

"It's your fault."

"Is it?"

Nodding a bit, he allowed his eyes to slip shut again as he said, "You were the one that kept me up all night."

"How did I do that exactly?"

"Snorin'."

"I don't snore, Paul."

"You do too."

"I do not."

"How would you know? You sleep through it." He tilted his head back again when her hands froze on his shoulders, peeking open an eye. "Don't get all pissy, Steph. You do."

"You've never said this before."

"It's just started. I usually shove a pillow over your face and hope you don't suffocate. Be hell, explainin' that one."

"You're so full of it."

Maybe a little.

"I'll just capture it then, huh? Tonight? On that little app?" He shut his eyes again. "Stephanie McMahon, exposed for the loud ass snorer she really is."

"You better not."

"Why? You afraid you do snore and all of those people on your little app will see?"

"I don't care if I snore or not; you record me sleeping in any way-"

"Live stream, babe. Not record."

"-you'll be sleeping very far away from me for a very long time."

"Yes, ma'am." He let out a slight sigh. "I'd never be able to pull it off anyhow; I wouldn't be able to get the damn app to ever turn back off."

"It's really not that hard. And I showed you how."

"Still stupid."

"Oh, Paul." She hung her head then, staring down at the man as he relaxed even further into the chair. "Is that why you were such a grouch about the whole thing? Huh? Because you're tired?"

"I wasn't a grouch."

"Not to anyone other than me."

"I wasn't grouchy towards you. At all." As her hands slipped down from his shoulders, hanging instead, from his neck, Paul only reached up with his own hands to grasp then. "Just wanted that damn thing off me. You now how annoyed I get by cameras and shit."

"Imagine that, Paul Levesque afraid of a few cameras."

"Ain't afraid of them." He even snorted a bit. "Just get annoyed by them. Spent forever and a decade behind one; when I don't want to be on it now, I should have that choice."

"You're the one that turned on the app, you know."

"To appease you. Like usual."

"I can lead you down the wrong path occasionally."

"Occasionally," he repeated dryly.

"I think you were really just grumpy-"

"Wasn't grumpy," came his groggy retort.

"-because you hadn't had a nap yet."

"I'm not four, you know."

"I know. But you are in your _forties_." She did that deep chortle thing she did when she found herself extra hilarious. He fought a smile just from hearing the sound, not wishing for her to believe that he was being entertained in the slightest. "That's about the time when naps become good again, from what I hear."

"What you hear, huh?"

"Well, I'm not there yet, babe."

"Not yet," he agreed with a slight sigh. "But soon."

"Not _that_ soon."

"You sure? Because I feel like-"

"Not that soon, Paul."

"Okay." He was so tired that there was no way he was fighting with her over something like that. "I believe you."

"I'm not the one that needs a nap."

"What do you call that little stint over on the couch?"

"Resting my eyes."

"Always got an answer, woman. That would piss off a lotta men."

"I guess it's a good thing that you're not a lot of men, huh?"

"Damn good thing."

His head got one last kiss before her arms were gone from around his neck. That was enough to get Paul to sit up, glancing over his shoulder.

"Steph?"

"You didn't think I was going too stand there forever and watch you sleep, did you?"

"Wasn't sleeping."

"Just get out of your clothes, at least." She had gone back over to the couch, retrieving her own cell on the way. That power nap (resting her eyes), seemed to have rejuvenated the woman. "You'll wrinkle your shirt."

So as he stripped slowly, Steph began texting someone on her phone about something, not even glancing his way. Until, you know, down to his boxers, the man went to go fall onto the couch with her, quickly stretching out with his feet hanging off the end so that he could rest with his head in her lap.

"Paul," she complained as he only laid with his face resting against her thighs, eyes shut.

"You told me to take a nap."

"In the bed. Not come over here and bother me."

"You should know by now that I need specifications."

"Are you even comfortable?"

No. But he was bothering her and that was the point. He'd be getting up soon enough.

"And I'm kinda busy," Steph went on as he didn't answer. "I didn't bother you while you were working."

"Just you being here bothers me," came his muffled reply. Which, for the record, sounded better in his overly exhausted mind. Quickly revising it when he heard it aloud, he said, "In a good way. Distracts me. Err..."

"You're too cute." The back of his head got a pat. "Incoherent, but cute."

"Ain't incoherent. Plenty 'herent."

"Coherent, babe."

"S'what I said."

"Mmmm." Then, after a beat, she said, "You know my leg is, like, totally going to sleep, so-"

"Coming from the woman," he complained against her thigh, "that will literally claim my lap as her own no matter what I'm doing-"

"That's different."

"How? Because you're a woman? Sexy."

"You mean sexist?"

"What I said."

"Sure. And no." His head got a flick. "It's different because you like it."

Oh, very much.

With a groan of defeat, he pushed up one last time to get to his feet before heading over to the bed finally. Steph watched for a moment before going back to her phone with a grin.

Kicking back the covers, Paul moved to rest against the pillow Steph had used the night before, taking a rather nice whiff of that shampoo she'd been wearing recently before mumbling out against it, "Wake me in an hour. Alright? Steph? I gotta finish that stuff before-"

"I will. I promise."

"I apologize," he sighed as he shut his eyes, "for all the times I bitched at you when you were too tired to do something with me. It's a lot worse on this side of shit than it was on mine, all those years."

"Mmm- When did you bitch at me for-"

"Well, not aloud." He snorted a bit, her voice sounding distant then. "I'm not an idiot."

"I mean, you acted like a little bitch sometimes when I told you I was busy, but-"

"Careful, woman," he warned, though it would have sounded a lot better if it wasn't encased in a yawn. "'Here I was gonna offer to mess around on your damn app with you after I slept some. But now? No way."

"Oh, whatever. You wouldn't anyways."

"Would too."

"You hated it."

"I had a headache, Steph. We're getting all that shit ready for Mania. That's all." Another yawn. "We'll play around on it later. Promise."

"Or maybe I'll just stream you sleeping. Paul? Did you hear me?"

No. Or at least he was pretending not to as he finally allowed himself to drift off. Stephanie only took note of the time, as to remember when to awaken him, before getting back to what she was doing, knowing she wouldn't make him toy around on the app again.

That night, anyways. If it bugged him so much. Because she was certainly going to be touting it over the man that she knew more about it than he did, considering he'd done the same to her in the past on so many other social media sites.

It was nice to win won. Even at her husband's expense.

 _Especially_ at her husband's expense.

* * *

 **This one was suggested to me by Ellie. It's based off a really short video on youtube of (I'm guessing) the first time Paul and Steph used some live streaming app called Meerkat. It's a pretty short video, but still cute, because Paul gets rather miffed about the whole thing because, let's face it, he's basically an old man. I wasn't sure what to do with a one-shot about it though, so this is what you guys got.**


End file.
